About the Artist

Elizabeth Melas was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, where she still resides. She holds a Bachelors of Science degree from Northwestern University and a Masters of Architecture from The Illinois Institute of Technology. She is a LEED accredited professional and environmental advocate.

Elizabeth is the Director of the Capital Projects Department at Rush University Medical Center where she is responsible for the planning and implementation of all capital construction projects. Elizabeth started at Rush in June, 2012 where she was the Senior Project Manager.

Prior to joining Rush, Elizabeth spent 16 years in Cook County’s Office of Capital Planning & Policy where she was a Project Director from 1995 – 2002 and then the Deputy Director from 2002 – 2011. In this role, Elizabeth managed many large scale institutional projects totaling over $1 billion in construction.

In addition to her architectural career, Elizabeth has been an accomplished photographer for more than three decades. She has had exhibitions of her work in Chicago, New York and Paris. Early in her photography career Elizabeth developed a new technique using infrared film. These images can be viewed under the altered images section of this website.

In 2005, Elizabeth was selected as a fellow to The International Women’s Forum Leadership Foundation. This prestigious award is granted to professional women who have established themselves in their chosen field.

Elizabeth is also a past board member and programming chair of the Museum of Contemporary Art’s New Group.